UNICEF Executive Director, Henrietta Fore, has spoken on the recent spate of kidnapping and abduction of Children in Nigeria.
Henrietta Fore speaking on latest incidence where students were reportedly abducted from a school in Kaduna State of Nigeria on July 5th said “Such incidents appear to be increasing in frequency, raising fears for the safety and well-being of the region’s children”.
THE UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore has lamented that a total of 950 students have been abducted from their schools in Nigeria by armed men since December 2020.
UNICEF therefore described the latest abduction of students of Bethel Baptist School in Kaduna by bandits as one too many, a tide it said must be stopped forthwith.
Already in 2020, according to the latest report of the United Nations Secretary-General on children and armed conflict says one in three children in West and Central Africa are victims of grave violations.
Lamenting that, “In Burkina Faso, attacks against civilians and other violations of international humanitarian law have spiked significantly in recent weeks. On June 5, at least 130 civilians were killed in an attack on a village in Yagha Province that lasted for hours.
“This was the single deadliest attack in the country since the outbreak of violence in 2015. So far this month, 178 civilians have been killed, including children. More than 1.2 million people, 61 per cent of whom are children, are now displaced because of violence; a 10-fold increase in just the last three years.”
Speaking on Nigeria’s crisis, she says, It is hard to fathom the pain and fear that their families and loved ones are suffering in their absence.
UN estimates that in Nigeria, that at least 950 students have been abducted from their schools by armed men since December.
Going on to state that over the past six weeks alone, nearly 500 children were abducted in four separate incidents across the Central and Northwest parts of the country. Many of them yet to return.